Teacher Pipeline programs provide more teachers and an even bigger impact beyond the classroom

Workforce shortages pose a pervasive challenge across diverse industries nationwide, yet the education sector faced this issue well before the pandemic. Today, school districts everywhere are working to find solutions to put high-quality teachers in classrooms with limited resources. Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) Foundation has implemented some innovative programs over the last few years that are working to solve this problem for the OKCPS District. 

After having several conversations with OKCPS district leaders in 2016 about how best to support English language learners in the classroom, teacher shortages became a clear challenge that needed to be addressed, especially bilingual teachers who could assist these students. From these conversations, the Foundation established the Bilingual & Diversity Teacher Pipeline Program, which allows current professionals working within the district to earn their undergraduate degrees and become certified teachers at no cost to the participants. 

Mary Mélon-Tully, CEO and president of OKCPS Foundation

“The idea was we would work with our own paraprofessionals who were employed by Oklahoma City Public Schools, who were already working with our students as teaching assistants or paraprofessionals, who were already committed to working with our students,” shared Mary Mélon-Tully, CEO and president of OKCPS Foundation. “They already love our kids, they're already part of the culture of the district, and we decided that the best way to grow our teachers was to grow our own because we had this wonderful population of people working for our district who just needed this opportunity to finish their college degrees.”  

The first cohort of the Teacher Pipeline Program consisted of five individuals. One of those first five participants, Alexiss Lopez, is now a fully certified teacher kindergarten who finished her degree in December 2019. The impact she’s seen being a bilingual teacher goes beyond the classroom to her students’ families. 

Alexiss Lopez

“In my previous school, I did have students that were like, ‘Oh, my mom wants my sibling to go in your class because you speak Spanish.’ So, they just feel comfortable,” Lopez shared. “It's very gratifying to see that because this is why I became a teacher, because I want my kids to be comfortable and feel safe with someone that looks like them and speaks the language and can talk to their parents because parents are a big part of their kids' success.” 

Brad Herzer, assistant superintendent of HR, safety and security at OKCPS District, reiterated the research backing up the program which shows when students have mentors or teachers who look like them and come from similar backgrounds, they are more successful in the classroom.  

“I know that a lot of the teachers who we've had [in the program] have been outstanding professionals before. They've been dedicated to the district, and just the excitement that they've had for the program and then the excitement that the kids have had, has been really a positive influence on those schools that they've been a part of,” Herzer shared. 

Participating in the Foundation’s Teacher Pipeline Program helped Alexiss Lopez to complete her degree and become certified in half the time it would’ve taken her if she’d been doing it on her own. Not only does the program cover the cost of tuition and books, but it also offers wraparound services for the participants to support them in every aspect of their lives including emotional support and even assistance to get to and from class. 

 “We knew that if we could give them this chance, they would be the most amazing, wonderful teachers who would be incredibly loyal to us. So, not only were we going to get wonderful teachers who were already part of our district culture, we were going to have an amazing retention tool because they're going to stay,” Mélon-Tully said.  

Lenina Wright with her 4th grade students

The program is also impacting the participants in ways they never expected. Lenina Wright was a paraprofessional at an OKCPS District school when she was approached by her principal who encouraged her to apply for the program. As a mother of two, Wright never thought going back to school would be an option for her and had accepted that assisting in a classroom would be her life. Sharing her story, she became emotional as she expressed her gratitude for the opportunity.  

“I'm really, really happy that this came into my life. Being a teacher is everything for me. It changed my life in that aspect, and I'm very, very honored to be a part of the program,” Wright conveyed.  

Today, Lenina Wright is a 4th grade teacher at Quail Creek Elementary who is teaching a classroom full of students who look like her. That shared culture has allowed her to relate to the students in unique ways and helps her teach them that together, they can accomplish anything.  

Today, there are 71 participants in the Bilingual & Diversity Teacher Pipeline Program, and since its inception in 2016, 20 have successfully completed the Teacher Pipeline program and now lead classrooms of their own. Due to the success of the Teacher Pipeline program, the Foundation has been able to expand and now offers two additional programs: an OKCPS High School to Teacher Pipeline Program and an Aspiring Administrator Pipeline Program. 

The High School to Teacher Pipeline Program provides graduating seniors with a path to becoming a certified teacher. Once they graduate high school, they become employed as a paraprofessional and work on their bachelor’s degree concurrently. Currently, there are eight participants in the high school program and they’re looking to add more soon. The Foundation has also created a scholar program for high-performing students who are ready to go to college full time. There are also discussions for creating a concurrent program for students in high school that would allow them to obtain their teaching certification even quicker. 

One of the first 10 graduates of the Aspiring Administrators Pipeline Program

The Aspiring Administrators Pipeline Program allows bilingual and diverse OKCPS teachers who have been with the district at least three years to earn their master’s degree, which gives them a path to assume leadership positions in the district. The new Aspiring Administrators program just celebrated its first graduation with 10 graduates.  

The Foundation and District are also working on other initiatives to help retain and support teachers in the classroom. With the help of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, the district was able to provide a $500 resource stipend to all certified teachers to help with their classroom. This has been possible since the pandemic, but with funds ending June 30, the district is looking at other alternatives. 

The Foundation also recognizes the financial strain teachers face and helps support them by fulfilling their Donors Choose projects. Since 2014, the OKCPS Foundation has invested more than $11 million into OKCPS classrooms. They see it as a way to show their appreciation to teachers for their tireless work. The Foundation also recognizes outstanding teachers with their Stars of Education program, further shining a light on the work being done in the classroom. 

“We have a really great relationship, thankfully, with Dr. McDaniel and the team, and we do a lot of talking about how aligned we are. And so, I think we're in a really good place with the programs that we have, and we're always open to tweaking things,” Mélon-Tully said. “Everything we're doing is really embedded with Oklahoma City Public Schools in a way that I think is better than it's ever been in my almost 10 years here, and that doesn't just happen. It happens because a lot of people are working to make it happen. My team here is incredible and everyone works hard every day to make sure that what we're doing is effective. And the team at OKCPS District is amazing and they're all working to make sure things are effective.” 

If you would like to learn more about how you can get involved and support the work of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation and District, visit okckids.com.